Exal Iraheta is a Salvi-American playwright & screenwriter, born in Houston, TX now based in Chicago, IL. Sometimes humorous and often uncomfortable, his writing explores the intersections of innocence, queerness, Latinx realities, violence, and sex.
Exal earned an MFA from Northwestern University’s Writing for the Screen and Stage program in 2019, and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Film & Video Production in 2009. He has worked with several Chicago-based organizations as videographer and editor, media advisor, and film/video equipment instructor. His TV original pilots have received staged readings at The iO Theater, Annoyance Theatre, and The Crowd Theater.
Recently, his full length play They Could Give No Name was curated as part of Victory Gardens' 2019 Ignition Festival of New Plays, and his short play Open Venas received a production as part of Theater Masters’ 2019 Take Ten New York Short Play Festival. His full length play Rules of a Closed Door was a semi-finalist for the 2019 Activate: Midwest New Play Fest, with an excerpt reading at The Goodman Theater the previous year.
Videos